Start and stop editing

If available, open the Editor task by clicking its name in the
menu area (the name of the task may vary).
The Editor task window will open. If the Editor link
is not visible on the page, then this Web application
does not allow editing.

In the Editor task window, a menu may display for selecting a version to edit. If
so, choose a version from
the drop-down list. Then click Start Editing.
This closes the Editor task window and opens the
Editor tools window.

If the Save button is displayed in the Editor task window,
you must use the Save button to
save your edits. If you make changes and then close
the Editor task window, you will be asked whether to discard
your changes: click OK to discard changes, or click Cancel
to return to the Editor task window. If you make changes and simply
close the browser without saving, your edits will
not be saved. (If the Save button is not displayed,
then your edits are saved immediately, and you do not need
to save them explicitly.)

Setting the edit layer

Only one layer may be edited at a time. To choose
the layer to edit, select the layer from the
drop-down list at the top of the Editor tools window.

Optionally, modify the settings for editing, such
as snapping and selection, with the Settings
window. Open Settings from the link at the bottom
of the Editor tools window. For more information,
see the section below on
Settings options.

Edit functions

Edit buttons just below the edit layer name enable
actions common to all edit operations:

Tool

Description

Select Feature

Click on this tool,
then click or click and drag a rectangle on
the map. Features clicked on, or within the
drawn rectangle, will be selected.
Selection is shown with a
cyan (blue-green) color (see
Settings to change
selection color).
Features must be selected before they can be modified
or deleted.

Clear Feature(s)

Clears any selected
features so that no features are selected.

Show Vertices

If feature(s) are selected,
displays their vertices in red. Vertices are the
points that define the shape of a feature.

Undo

If available, this button reverses the last editing operation.
If pressed again, works its way backward to
undo actions done. Once you do a Save of your work,
you cannot undo operations done before the save.

Redo

If available, this button reinstates the action
that had been reversed with the Undo button.

Save Edit(s)

If available, this button saves all changes to the
data in the edit session. You must do a Save
before exiting the browser in order to preserve
your changes to the data. If this button is not
present, then any edits are saved immediately.

Enter XY value(s)

Creates a new feature
by entering coordinates of vertices in the
feature. Clicking this button opens a new window
to input the coordinates. For lines and polygons,
you can enter multiple vertices by clicking the Continue
Adding button. When you enter the last vertex, click Add Final
to finish the feature.

Creating a new feature

In the section of the Editor tools window labeled
Create <layer name>,
click a button for the type of feature to create.
One or more buttons will be available.
If the layer has multiple classes defined for the map display,
a button will display for each class. You can hover over the
button, and the name of the class type will pop up next
to the button.
After you click a button, it will have a pressed appearance.

Click on the map to create the feature. For lines,
click once at each vertex (point), and double-click at the
last vertex. For polygons, click at each vertex, then
double-click to finish. Do not click back on the original
vertex, as the polygon will automatically close. Press and hold the "s" key to
temporarily show a red marker at the location to which the cursor will snap if
you click to add a vertex. It also shows the layer to which snapping will occur.

You can also enable snapping options while adding vertices: see
Settings options below.

After finishing the feature, it will be highlighted
on the map, and the attribute fields will display in
the Editor window. Attributes may be entered for the
feature and the feature's shape may be edited at this point.

You can continue adding features by clicking on the
map. Remember to save your edits if necessary.

Selecting features

Before modifying or deleting a feature, it must be
selected.

Click the Select tool.

With the select tool active, click on the map to
select the feature. You can also draw a rectangle
to select features within the rectangle.

After a few moments, the selected features
are highlighted. These features can
then be modified or deleted.

Modifying and deleting features

After features are selected, they can be modified using
the editing tools. The set of tools displayed differs for
point, line and polygon layers.

Attributes
can also be modified in
the Editor task window. If an attribute is entered that
does not match the data type, a message will display and
the value will be erased. For example, if an attribute field
is a numeric type and a value of "Test" is entered,
the value will not be allowed.

Tool

Action

Move feature

Moves the feature to a new location.
Click first on some point in the feature.
As you move the cursor to the new location,
a line follows the cursor to indicate the move.
Click the second time on the new location.
The feature is moved, with the point on
the feature click first moved to
the location clicked second.

Copy feature

To copy a selected feature, click once
on the feature, then move the cursor
to the new location and click again.
The feature is copied, with the point on
the feature clicked first
located at the point clicked second.

Split feature

Splits a selected line or polygon feature into two features.
For a line, click the tool, then click once
at the location to split the line. For a polygon,
click to draw a line to define the split. At the
last point in the line for splitting the polygon, double-click
on the map to finish and split the polygon. Each
feature takes the attributes of the
existing feature.

Merge features

Merges two or more selected lines or polygons
into a single feature.
If polygons overlap, the boundary between them
is dissolved so that they form a single polygon.
Note that this does not snap vertices.
The merged feature takes the attributes of the
first feature selected.

Delete feature

Deletes the entire point, line or polygon
feature(s) that are selected. No warning
message is shown, but if the Undo button is
available, you can use it to undo the delete.

Add vertex

For a line or polygon, adds a vertex
along the edge where you click.

Delete vertex

For a line or polygon, deletes the vertex
clicked on. You cannot delete the last two
vertices of a line, or the last three
vertices of a polygon.

Move vertex

For a line or polygon, moves a vertex. First
click on the vertex to move. After clicking,
a line follows the cursor, indicating the move
action. Click on the new location for the vertex.

Settings options

Settings options modify how selection and snapping occur.
Click the Settings link in the lower right of the
Editor tools window to open the Settings options. Click the down arrows within the Settings window to display
sections of the options.
The administrator of the website may limit the
options that you can set.

Snapping settings

When you draw a line or polygon, you may want vertices
(points) to fall exactly along other existing
features. Snapping forces a click to take the precise coordinate
of a feature, if the feature falls within the
Snapping Tolerance of the click.

Snap tips are automatically available when editing. When adding
or moving vertices, press and hold the 's' key to show a marker
at the location to which the cursor will be snapped:
The cursor does not actually snap to this location while drawing a line or polygon.
But once you
finish adding the feature, the snapped locations will be the ones used and displayed.

Snapping Rules determine which parts of features within
a layer can be snapped to. For each layer, you can snap to
specific locations within features.

Vertex: mouse click location will be snapped to the nearest vertex
in a feature of the layer, if within the snapping tolerance.

Edge: mouse click location will be snapped to the nearest
line or polygon of a feature. Snapped location does not have
to fall on a vertex.

End: mouse click location will be snapped to an end point
of a line or polygon.

Snapping Tolerance: the location clicked with the mouse
will be snapped only if it is within this distance of a feature.
The smaller the snapping tolerance, the closer you must click
to a feature in order to snap to it.

Show snap circle: when adding or moving vertices, displays a circle halo around the cursor as
you move the mouse. This indicates the snapping tolerance. If a feature in a layer with snapping enabled is within this circle, the mouse click location will be snapped to one of the ends, vertices or edges of that feature, depending on the snapping rules. Be aware that enabling this option uses CPU time on your computer
as you move the mouse.

Select Features settings

Tolerance: When selecting features, features within
this distance of the mouse click will be selected. This
allows easier selection of point and line features.

Limit selection to: No more than this number of
features can be selected at one time. This limits the
potential load on the server and prevents inadvertently
selecting large numbers of features.

Selection Mode: When using the Select Feature tool,
this setting determines how the selection affects any features
previously selected in the layer.

Create new selection: any features previously selected
are unselected, and a new set is selected based on the
area drawn with the Select Feature tool.

Add to current selection: newly selected features are
added to the set of features previously selected.

Remove from current selection: features found when using
the Select Feature tool are removed from the set previously
selected. Remaining features, if any, are still selected.

Toggle feature selection state: features intersecting the
area drawn with the Select Features too that were not previously
selected will be selected, while features previously selected
will be un-selected. Features not intersecting the area drawn
will remain selected.

Selection Color: Selected features are shown
with this color. To change the selection color, click the
drop-down arrow, and choose a color from the palette.

Show highlight:If checked, displays the feature whose
attributes are currently being editing with a separate highlight
color. If this option is checked, the Highlight Color
is displayed and may be set by clicking the drop-down arrow
next to the color sample box,
which displays the color palette for choosing a new color.